A conventional and commercially available fifth wheel trailer hitch includes two separate brackets which are each mounted adjacent a wheel well of a pick-up truck and are each secured at least in part to either the wheel well or to a side wall of the pick-up truck. A removable hitch assembly extends between and has each end removably pivotally supported on a respective one of the brackets. A trailer hitch of this conventional type is disclosed in Baker et al U.S. Pat. No. 3 392 992. Although such conventional hitches have generally been adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects.
More specifically, the desire for fuel economy has led over the past several years to the introduction and popularity of small, lightweight pick-up trucks, as a result of which the various commercially available pick-up trucks have beds of different widths and thus have side walls and wheel wells which are spaced by different widths. Consequently, since the support brackets of the conventional hitch are provided adjacent and secured to the wheel wells and/or the side walls of the pick-up, the distance between the brackets will vary with the width of the bed, and it is thus necessary to manufacture several versions of the hitch assembly which have different lengths corresponding to the various widths of the pick-up truck beds available on the market.
Another disadvantage results from the fact that, in order to minimize weight and thus optimize fuel economy in many pick-up trucks, the side walls and wheel wells are presently being made of thinner and more lightweight metal than has typically been used in the past. Consequently, during normal operational use of the conventional hitch, the portions of the support brackets which are bolted to the wheel wells or side walls often exert forces on the wheel wells or side walls which deform the wheel wells and side walls and can even cause the connecting bolts to be pulled completely out of the wheel wells or side walls.
A further disadvantage has resulted from the fact that the support brackets of the conventional hitch, which are permanently mounted to the truck, frequently interfere with or prevent certain uses of the bed of the truck even when the removable hitch assembly has been detached from the brackets. For example, in many pick-up trucks which are not full-size trucks, the distance between the wheel wells is designed to be slightly greater than the width of a standard sheet of plywood and paneling, so that a sheet of plywood or paneling can be placed relatively flat on the bed of the truck between the wheel wells. However, where the support brackets of the trailer hitch are each permanently mounted just inwardly of a respective wheel well and project upwardly from the truck bed to the top of the wheel wells, as in the hitch disclosed in abovementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3 392 992, they reduce the effective width between the wheel wells sufficiently so that sheets of plywood or paneling do not fit therebetween.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fifth wheel trailer hitch mountable on the bed of a pick-up truck, in which a single model of the hitch can be installed in any pick-up truck, regardless of the bed width.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a trailer hitch, as aforesaid, in which the hitch is attached only to the bed of the pick-up truck and not to the side walls or wheel wells thereof, but still provides a safe and dependable connection between a trailer and the pick-up truck.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a trailer hitch, as aforesaid, which has a hitch assembly that can be quickly and easily removed from the pick-up truck and, when removed, permits full and normal use of the bed of the pick-up truck.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a trailer hitch, as aforesaid, which is lightweight and compact but nevertheless very sturdy. In order to achieve an appropriate degree of compactness, it is an object of the invention to provide an actuating arrangement for the coupling mechanism which is very compact in size.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a trailer hitch, as aforesaid, which is capable of smooth and efficient engagement and disengagement, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.